


5+1: Heat of the Moment (Alternatively: Keeping Your Favourite Firbolg Cool)

by PossiblyNobody



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: 5 + 1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Caduceus Finding Ways of Keeping Cool, Caleb Widogast Deserves Nice Things, F/F, F/M, Inspired by Me Being Too Hot Today, Mutual Pining, Roommates, Soft boys being soft, and they were roommates (oh my god), because I'm a sucker for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25830523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PossiblyNobody/pseuds/PossiblyNobody
Summary: There's a heatwave and most of the members of the Xhorhaus are out trying to find ways to keep cool, leaving Caleb and his favourite firbolg to try and find ways to keep cool together.Or: 5 + 1 things - Caleb and Caduceus trying to keep cool before finding a reason to warm up.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha (Background), Caduceus Clay/Caleb Widogast
Kudos: 43





	5+1: Heat of the Moment (Alternatively: Keeping Your Favourite Firbolg Cool)

It was summer in the Xhorhaus and it was HOT. 

Too hot. 

The tieflings were both just fine, having high internal body temperatures just meant that they regulated as normal. 

Yasha had grabbed Beau and taken her to Canada for some cooler weather (and the remainder of the Nein were very jealous of their cold romantic getaway). 

Fjord had taken to hanging out by the docks more - taking Jester and Mollymauk with him more often than not, to jump in the sea whenever the heat became overwhelming. 

Nott seemed to not even feel it - hanging out in the University lab with Yeza all day long and only appearing back in the house at night. The lab was temperature-controlled and kept cool at all times (to keep volatile liquids from becoming, well, MORE volatile), which means that she and her long-term boyfriend were just fine.

Which left Caleb and Caduceus to endure the heat together. 

Caleb had tried going to the library ONE TIME and had found it packed with people, all trying to take advantage of the air conditioning, which made him intensely uncomfortable and so he left as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile Caduceus, covered as he was with a light sprinkling of fur, had it worse than the rest of them. 

All his favourite activities seemed to be off the table - tea made things hotter, gardening almost gave him heatstroke, and although he loved Melora and all she gave him, the heat was not comfortable enough to spend the days at her greenhouse-style temple. 

So it came to this. Caduceus went about finding ways to keep cool, it was his mission for the next few days, until the heatwave eventually broke and the rain blessed the lands. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1\. Fans

There was no air conditioning in the Xhorhaus, ever since Beau accidentally broke the unit by showing off a kick to Yasha (she had been very impressed, but that was in winter when no one needed it), and no one had known how to fix it, or to get on the phone to their landlady (Marion Lavorre) to get her to fix it. 

No one wanted to be the one to prove to Marion that they were the terrible University students that she didn’t think they were, so they just avoided it and put off contacting an electrician themselves, until this happened. 

So Caduceus had fans. Many fans.

The whirring noise of 7 full-sized fans gently blowing the air around him as he sat in the middle looked a little… cult like. 

Cult-adjacent if Caleb was being generous. 

It was a little bit of a worry to see his friend surrounded in this way, he looked a little bit outnumbered, and beyond his fur swaying in the breeze, it didn’t seem to be doing anything for his warmth.

Sat cross legged with his palms turned upwards in some version of meditation, Cad’s eyebrows were furrowed and didn’t seem to be very zen, which was unlike him. 

Caleb could see where his fur was sticking to him with sweat, so he imagined that the ‘3 for 2’ deal that Caduceus had used in order to find 6 of his fans had actually been because they were all terrible. 

One fan seemed to be working well and, if Caleb’s memory was correct, which it always was, it was one that they found in the basement of the house when they had first moved in, that the Nein had lovingly named the Ghost Fan. 

Jester liked to make jokes about the Ghost Fan spooning people who made pottery. 

Which made Cad being surrounded by 6 fans and a Ghost Fan a little suspicious for Caleb’s superstitious mind. Maybe not superstitious, but a little stitoius, enough to be worried for his friend’s sanity in this hot time. 

Calling his name a little louder to be heard over the fans, Caleb gestured wildly at the fans surrounding his furred friend and asked ‘are they helping?’

With a very frustrated sigh, Caduceus shook his head, putting his face very close to the nearest one and letting it distort his speech; ‘it’s just moving hot air, it’s… not great.’

Which was maybe the most damning thing Caduceus had ever said about anything. 

This led to tactic number 2, which ended up worrying Caleb in a different way.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2\. Stripping 

The next time Caleb had come downstairs that same day, Caduceus was wearing fewer clothes than he had that morning. 

Caleb came downstairs in a t-shirt that said ‘Meowth says relax’ (a joke present from Beau) and some shorts he had stolen from Fjord. Or more accurately, that Nott had stolen from Fjord and then decided she didn’t want, then FJORD decided he didn’t want, which led to Caleb calling dibs. 

Laying down on the floor, with two fans positioned on either side of his face, Caduceus was only wearing a pair of boxer-briefs. Something Caleb had not known that he wanted to know about the man.

They were tiny. Caleb was struck for a second about where the man had gotten them from, then promptly reasoned with himself that although firbolg proportions tended towards large (and wasn’t THAT a thought), boxers tended to be universal. 

Cad had his eyes closed which allowed Caleb to roam his own eyes across his friend’s body a little, greedily taking in areas he didn’t get to see often (The Mighty Nein were very free with their bodies, but some more so than others, and no one liked to stare… except maybe Jester).

Long legs stretched out towards the television in the living room, and he had a hand resting lightly on his stomach, slowly rising and falling as he breathed. 

Even the stretch of his neck and collarbones seemed to be more than Caleb usually got to see on a daily basis, with Caduceus preferring high necked clothes.  
Caleb had the sudden urge to bite at his collarbones to see the reaction. 

And promptly choked on air at the thought. 

Cad opened his eyes lazily: ‘Oh hey Mr. Caleb, didn’t hear you over the fans, I was trying meditation to see if it would cool me down, but no such luck… say, would you like to join me in the kitchen?’

He seemed completely at ease with his own nudity which, Caleb reasoned with himself, was fair enough in a house that included Mollymauk and their tendency to roam the house in lingerie and a purple dressing gown with stars lined down the ends. 

Caduceus stretched his arms way above his head and let out a groan as his joints cracked a little, Caleb did NOT look downwards towards his friend’s lap to see whether the rumours about firbolgs were true, he did NOT. 

He did a little. 

Not trusting himself to speak, Caleb simply nodded and walked towards the kitchen, hearing Caduceus follow him and turn off the fans. 

He turned around in the kitchen to see that Cad had put on (some) clothes, and was cuddling one of his fans close to his body, trying to find a free socket in the kitchen to set up again. 

He had thrown on a plant-patterned button up shirt, and had just chosen to… not button up any of it. Hanging down his tall frame, Caleb’s earlier thought about collarbones came back with a vengeance and he pointedly did NOT look at them (he looked at them a little). 

Pointing to where Beau had plugged in her bluetooth speaker before leaving yesterday, Cad quickly took advantage of the newly free socket and the quiet whirring started back up again. 

The firbolg clapped his hands together: ‘well, I had an iced tea recipe I’d been waiting to test out at a BBQ or something, but this is as good a time as any to use ice cubes in creative ways’.

Caleb flushed and hoped to hell that he could blame it on the heat.

—————————————————————————————————————

3\. Peaches and Whiskey

‘There’s a recipe I’ve been wanting to try ever since I found it on YouTube’, Caduceus murmured as he switched his phone on. 

Trying to be helpful, Caleb asked ‘what ingredients should I find?’ and dutifully went to the various cupboards around the kitchen to find them all. 

Flicking some music on Spotify so that it would play through the speaker that Beau had left (charged and forgotten about), Cad washed his hands and started chopping peaches. 

Wanting to be helpful, Caleb followed suit, until the smell of peaches wafted all the way through the kitchen, helped along by the Ghost Fan in the corner that was being the Little Fan That Could. 

Recognising the sounds of Jester’s summer playlist, he started bopping his head lightly to the beat as he chopped (frankly? Massacred) the peaches. 

Holding up the remains of a peach, Caleb asked ‘should I maybe not help anymore?’

Giving a soft chuckle, Cad just replied ‘no you’re wonderful, the recipe calls for squashing the juice out anyway, so you’re just… pre-squashing them’.

Stunned as always by his taller friends optimistic view, Caleb put his head down and finished up the rest of the peaches in the quiet, using the fan and the music as an excuse not to talk to the friend that he had been quietly crushing on for the better part of 7 months. 

Ever since he moved in halfway through the year, he took on the role of Mom Friend (co-parenting with Nott really), and turned their jumbled house into something a little more resembling of a home. 

He was what Caleb wanted and needed, a safe harbour in a storm, or a moment of clean air in the middle of smoke - he trusted all of the Nein with his life (they were very ‘ride or die’ as Beau put it once), but he trusted Caduceus with his very rarely used emotions. Fragile little things that were tentatively reaching out. 

Cad hadn’t ever shut him down when he made his tiny advances, but he also never reached back so it was really anyone’s guess what was going on in his mind. 

With the rest of the peaches finished, the taller man started boiling the peaches in sugar and simultaneously brewing some tea in a HUGE mason jar that was usually only used for cocktails. He also took out a bottle of whiskey and gave Caleb a secret smile before pouring a healthy glug into the tea. 

‘Sometimes pure tea isn’t what our bodies need, and the Wildmother has taught me to listen to my body… very closely’.

Seemingly not hearing his own innuendo, he handed the spoon to Caleb and let him poke at the peaches for another few minutes, in favour for standing near the fan. 

They idly chatted whist the peaches cooked down, with Frumpkin joining Cad in front of the fan for a little, before stalking off to whatever patch of shade she had found. 

10 minutes later, when the peaches looked severely broken down, Caleb felt a presence behind him and a larger hand take the spoon away from him to prod at it. Humming thoughtfully, Cad had pressed up against the entirety of Caleb’s back and Caleb could only stand carefully very still and hope that the moment wouldn’t end. 

Like all things, it did though, with Caduceus hauling the large pot off the stoke and straining the mixture before adding it to the tea with a LOT of ice cubes, stirring them until it was all cold, then adding it to some mason jars filled with MORE ice for good luck. 

Taking them out to the patio in a shaded area, Caduceus lifted up his mason jar in a cheers, thrice damned shirt still billowing open. 

Helplessly Caleb returned the gesture and tried the drink - it was amazing. 

Looking at Cad, he said ‘we should make this more often, but it’s maybe dangerous, a lot of whiskey in a very sweet package’.

Cad mumbled something under his breath which Caleb couldn’t quite hear, but his taller friend didn’t look inclined to share, only smiling brightly and pouring him some more. 

The rest of the night continued like that, though they both got a little more free with their smiles and touches as the night wore on, eventually sharing the huge mason jar of cocktails with the rest of the Nein when they returned from their various cold hidey-holes. 

The look Caduceus gave Caleb as they all went to bed, cocktail all finished, seemed more heat-filled than the entire day had been, but then he blinked and couldn’t find any trace of what he had just seen and put it down to wishful thinking, shaking his head and saying a soft ‘goodnight’ to his friend. 

—————————————————————————————————————-

4\. Ice Lollies

The next afternoon they found themselves the only ones in the Xhorhaus again, and when Caleb looked at his phone he found one text from Mollymauk at 8.15am, earlier than they were ever usually up, especially after all those drinks, saying: ‘Darling, we’re all out today, all day, all evening too probably, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do ;) xo’ 

Caleb with a furrowed brow typed back clumsily: ‘I think only murder is off the table then, nein?’

Getting one more winky face in response, he shook his head and stood up, head surprisingly clear for all the drinks he had had. 

Thanking his Zemnian constitution for his tolerance, he took a cool shower and headed downstairs. 

And found Caduceus in the same position as before. 

This time with an added ice pack to his head. 

‘Are you okay Mr. Clay?’

‘Nothing a trip to the shops won’t fix Mr. Caleb, would you like anything?’ his friend responded, eyes closed with a half smile. 

After assuring him of the negative, then changing his mind and hurriedly finding money for cat food, he offered to come along but was rebuffed (which he tried not to look into) with the reasoning of someone staying to look after Frumpkin. 

So Caleb spent the morning with his cat and a new book on the kitchen floor, hiding from the patch of sunlight that his cat was taking advantage of by sitting under the sink with a book on the history of a pirate, which wasn’t a real pirate, and also wasn’t a real history. 

Caleb was reading a smut novel.

But to be fair, Jester had leant it to him and had asked him to read it quickly so that she could know whether it would be worth it, because apaprently he ‘reads so much FASTER Cayleb, and really I think you could use your powers for good and interesting books don’t you think?’

Caleb didn’t think. But he did secretly quite like smut, so here he was, on the bathroom floor, getting slightly aroused from a piece of fiction that a little blue tiefling had purposefully left on his desk with a sticky note. 

Hearing the front door close, Caleb jumped a little from where he had been engrossed (there was a good plot, okay?), and watched Cad come back with shopping bags. 

Immediately taking the cat food that he was handed, Caleb set about pouring it out carefully into the bowl that Yasha had made for Frumpkin at a pottery class that her and Beau had gone on for a date. 

It was a little misshapen but altogether lovely, with a little paw design painstakingly carved in (and a tiny dick painted next to it and he tried to ignore). 

Standing up and turning back around Caleb went to say thank you - 

And the sound died in his throat. 

Because Caduceus was eating an ice lolly. 

That sounded a little too tame for what his friend was doing to this ice lolly. He was sucking it, practically deepthroating it - which could just be because all parts of him were big and so his mouth would be too, right? 

Though that was a rabbit hole that Caleb could feel his mind going down way too easily, especially given the book he had just paused from reading. 

Staring for a full five seconds before Caduceus made a slurping sound and pulled back, Caleb hurried to ask ‘oh, those look very refreshing!’

Nodding happily, he offered the box to him and he took one eagerly, just to take his mind off what his friend was currently doing to them. 

Unwrapping one quickly, he shoved it in his mouth to stop his own thoughts. 

And immediately started up a whole new line of thoughts related to his current activity. 

Caleb needed another shower this morning, a very cold shower. 

Finishing his frozen treat as quickly as possible, and garnering a few looks from Cad, he managed to choke out: ‘um, I.. shower’ before fleeing upstairs, mouth still half-full of peach flavoured ice. 

——————————————————————————————————————

5\. Cold Tub

Coming back downstairs to Caduceus, having taken a brief (2 hour) freak-out period to calm down, finish his book, pet his cat, and change clothes, Caleb tried to re-find his friend. 

He found him at the hot tub of all places.

They hadn’t turned it on since the weather had turned cool, and Caleb could see Cad systematically pouring huge bags of ice into the tub, again in the boxer/open shirt combo. 

Waving to him, Caleb called out ‘what are you doing?’

Giving his smaller friend a bemused smile as he hauled up another bag of ice, he responded ‘I thought that might have been obvious Mr. Caleb - I’m still trying to find a way to keep cool’. 

Ah. Okay. 

‘Would you like any help?’ he offered, knowing that it wasn’t strength that made them friends, that was really more Yasha’s vibe. 

Smiling a little wider now, Cad shook his head but said ‘not with the pouring, though you’re welcome to join me when I finish. Maybe with, ah,’ he looked a little bashful ‘maybe help with making it cozy… just so it doesn’t feel so clinical?’

Nodding straight away, Caleb replied ‘ah yes, no one wants to feel like they’re an athlete taking an ice bath ja? We’ve seen Beau do that a few too many times’, before moving towards the house to find the remote for all the fairy lights in the trees that they had. 

It was getting towards dusk now, what with waking up late after the cocktails and their various outings, so the fairy lights made a nice glow against the trees in their yard. Caleb also grabbed the bluetooth speaker from the kitchen, which probably had enough charge to last another day before they had to plug it in again. 

To find Cad in the hot (cold?) tub, up to his chest, having not taken off his shirt. 

Walking up to the tub and placing the speaker down (that was already playing one of the Nein’s many summer playlists, this time Nott’s), Caleb offered up one of the two G&T cans in his hand to his friend, quirking an eyebrow at his clothes. 

‘It was too hot after all that, I couldn’t think of anything other than getting in’ Cad said, accepting the can thankfully and reclosing his eyes.

Deciding not to make a fuss over it (though knowing he would be roasted if the Nein found him doing it), Caleb decided to join him in his boxer/shirt combination, stripping off his shorts and hopping in. 

Reopening his eyes at the splash Caleb made when he came in, Cad watched him through half-lidded eyes and a wide, contented smile, arms stretched across the rim of the tub. 

Caleb sat apart from all that, opening his can and refusing to make eye contact apart from once, when he caught his friend’s stare. 

After a little pause where both men drank from their cans and took in the ambience, Caduceus sighed contentedly and started talking. 

‘This was the best idea yet, even better than the ice lollies, though I did enjoy the way you looked at me while I had them’.

Catching Caleb at the moment he had taken a sip, he couldn’t control his reaction and he choked a little on the gin, sputtering then responding ‘w-what reaction?’

Eyes narrowing a little as he sat up a little straighter, he tracked the way that Caleb’s eyes flickered down to his now more-exposed body, and simply said, without any of the anxiety that Caleb often felt around these things ‘I like you, Mr. Caleb, from what I can tell I think you like me too, especially since Nott and Jester told me you did, and as much as I like keeping cool in this weather, I think we’d both probably benefit from warming up a little right now.’

And pointedly put his can to the side, before letting his arms hang on the edge of the tub, inviting him in. 

Face flushed to match his hair, Caleb followed suit, putting his can down and saying weakly, ‘it is rather cold in this hot tub’.

Before sliding forward to sit in his friend’s lap. 

———————————————————————————————————————

6\. Heat of the moment

The tub kept them cool for a while, but they ended up staying in long enough that all the ice melted. 

But neither of them minded the heat too much that evening.

**Author's Note:**

> Jeez. It's hot today. 
> 
> Sorry for any Briticisms, from the bottom of my heart - my bad. 
> 
> Song title from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds because it's APT.


End file.
